Friday, February 12, 2010

ME ON THE FROG

It's been a while since I watched a real, like real cartoons that are literally drawn in 2D.

Seriously, gone were the days of Pocahontas, The Lion King, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast.

Taking over these classics are 3D animations like "Bolt", "Monsters Inc." and "Ratatouille".

While these Pixar-Disney productions do have its entertainment values, they are still very different compared to classic cartoons. In some ways, I still feel that they are incomparable. I don't know why. I guess, it's just like Michael Jackson or Celine Dion - irreplaceable. That's why when Disney's new cartoon "Princess and the Frog" was released, many were excited about the reintroduction of classic 2D cartoons in cinemas.

I think the second poster wins hands down.

What do you think?

I admit, I will not really pay to watch cute cartoons in cinema - because I don't feel that it's worth the money paid to watch something that is equally enjoyable watching in the warmth of my own home. I mean, if you are watching action-packed or horror movie, you pay for the sound effects but cartoons....seriously? But of course lar, if I'm babysitting kids, it only make sense if I bring them to watch cartoons...I'll not risk being sue for polluting minds of the next generation.

Anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( I find myself drifting always).

SO ANYWAY...........

I finally managed to watch the latest 2D cartoon "Princess and the Frog" which many of us anticipated.

I wasn't disappointed with the cartoon. It was a pretty decent watch, though not as memorable as previous Disney cartoons. The songs in the movie were too jazzy for me, well, since the Prince in the cartoon likes Jazz and I guess the songs are also very rhythm and blues, in order to bring out that era in time - 1960s? 70s? Not sure.

Every Disney cartoon delivers a message (and some argue contains subliminal sexual references too haha) and I love the message carried by the cartoon. I guess in many ways, it reminded me of something that I think I've come to forget easily and that is to WORK HARD!! I tend to be very very lazy and procrastinate a lot.

In the cartoon, Tiana believed in wishing upon a bright shining star, wishing her dreams would come true. And her father told her something that rings in my head til now. The wishing on the star (or God) can only bring us that far, the other half of the journey is through hard work. I'm guilty of wishing upon stars and wishing things would happen for me. Well, it's a reminder that I need to start putting in extra effort.

But on top of just working hard, Tiana's dad also reminded her the importance of love. You know how some people just work and work and neglect family? Well, I guess it's beautiful that the cartoon tries to highlight the importance of both - love and also hard work. So basically, it's reminding us about the importance of balance in life. Very very good advice.

I also think that the villain in this cartoon is a very creatively designed character. I mean, we've seen witches and manipulative men trying to take over thrones or win the lady character but we've yet to see a voodoo man in cartoons. With voodoo, all the weird stuff that happens make sense. It's somewhat like magic, but then again, it's not exactly magic; so it doesn't falls into the cliche of evil witches often incorporated in fairytales.

The story draws on the classic Frog Prince story but with a twist because the girl, Tiana, isn't a princess. She's just a not-so-wealthy girl who work for the mayor and his daughter. Her philosophy in life, as nurtured by her father, is to work hard in life in order to own a dream restaurant. But she tend to worked so hard that she lost focused on another most important thing in life - love. She met the Frog Prince, who was turned into the frog by a Voodoo man and she thought that by kissing the frog, he would turn back into a Prince and then can help her financially. What she didn't know was that the Prince was so lazy that his parents cut off his allowance so that he'll learn the meaning of work. So basically, Tiana taught the Prince that we have to work for something because not everything is gain that easily. The Prince balanced out Tiana's life for he taught her what it means to enjoy life and have fun.

As a conclusion, I'd say that the recipe to living a good life is to work hard and have faith.

But like I mentioned earlier, the songs weren't really working for me and also, unfortunately, I really have a thing for frogs. No offence, but...I wished they were cursed into other animals rather than frogs. I mean, when I watch Lion King, I was like so into the lions - they are like amazing to look at...even Pumba and Timon look cute, but frogs....*making the so-so hand*. I don't know...not feeling it.

Generally though, it wasn't a bad cartoon. The colours and 2D effects are definitely better (I bet due to advancement of technology, even 2D looks super good). However, this is not one cartoon that is super glued into my memory though. It's really still nothing compared to my favourite Disney masterpieces such as The Lion King, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. I didn't really get the mystical, fairytale feeling I used to get after watching Disney. It's either I've grew out of it or it's just not one of the best cartoons. I'm thinking more of the latter haha because I WILL NEVER GROW OUT OF CARTOONS! I'm YOUNG! ahem...

So should you watch it?

Yeah!! Go for it! It's a cartoon! What makes you feel better if not cartoons. It's simple, it's colourful, vibrant...it just helps cheer people up. That's basically what Disney does I guess haha. I might not rewatch it, but who knows right?

TC-My Ratings:

With Lotsa Lurve,

TammyC

ps: I just re-watched The Lion King and it was hilarious! Brought back so many childhood memories and now that I finally truly understand the dialogues, the lines are super witty. Sadly, the same witty dialogues aren't found in The Princess and the Frog. But I love the characters' accents though.